Month: November 2016

On November 30, 1995, a rag tag group of players and coaches traveled to Tirana, Albania to play a football match. It was no ordinary game. Even though the match itself was meaningless, a friendly, it meant the world to a small country that only recently saw the end of a bloody war for independence.

According to sources within the Japanese embassy in Bosnia and Herzegovina, Ivica Osim will be awarded with Japan’s “Order of the Rising Sun,” medal, fourth class. The honor will be bestowed upon Osim in December for his development of football in Japan, and for fostering positive relations between the two countries.

When Riad Bajic (22) transferred to Konyaspor from Zeljeznicar for a mere 500,000 euros back in August of 2015, it wasn’t a big deal. After all, Bosnian players routinely went to Turkey, but very few panned out. Players like Edin Visca (who is also in tremendous form) were exceptions rather than the norm.

At the beginning of the 2016/17 season, I wrote a guest piece for Baraz Magazine detailing how this was going to be Edin Dzeko’s “Season of Redemption,” after a lackluster performance the entirety of last year. Dzeko has not only matched my expectations, but he’s far exceeded them.

One of the most prolific Bundesliga goal scorers in recent memory celebrated his 99th and 100th league goals today. Bosnia and Herzegovina’s Vedad Ibisevic helped pull his Hertha Berlin side past Mainz in a 2-1 home game victory.

For every negative football story there seem to be dozens of positive ones to counteract it. Even though the Greece-Bosnia-Herzegovina World Cup 2018 qualifier in Athens brought some ugly scenes to the forefront, including the mistreatment of fans and fascist banners being unfurled, it did have one touching moment.